While the crypto market goes up and down in an almost hypnotizing lull, there is one thing everyone is looking forward to - the holiday season. As the end of the year approaches quickly, Christmas and New Year's are knocking on the door. Yet, the uncertainty of the global economic landscape might be putting a stain on the festive season for some this year. With raging inflation (8.8% globally in 2022, according to the International Monetary Fund), and rising prices across the board, the holiday season can become overwhelming. However, ambitious projects like XGo are trying to bring more stability …

FTX — the three letters on everyone’s lips in recent days. For those active in the crypto space, it has been a shattering blow as a tumultuous year for crypto nears an end. The repercussions are severe, with over a million people and businesses owed money following the collapse of the crypto exchange, according to bankruptcy filings. With investigations into the collapse ongoing, it will certainly push forward regulatory changes, either via lawmakers or through federal agencies. While regulators may feel relieved that the scandal didn’t occur under their supervision, it highlights that there simply hasn’t been enough action taken …

The collapse of FTX has shown that where there’s smoke, there’s fire. In a year filled with jaw-dropping unveilings, none compare to the bewildering fall of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange. While many were stunned, there were a few tell-tale signs that may have indicated not everything was peachy-perfect over at FTX headquarters. These issues began to compound and, on Oct. 5, I published a detailed commentary about my decision to begin pulling funds out of FTX and short FTT. Im taking all of my capital out of @FTX_Official and going short $FTT FTX has been swinging and missing all year …

The gap between traditional finance and the cryptocurrency world is still vast. However, up-and-coming solutions like Source of Funds checks can change that. Blockchain analytics and compliance companies are already looking into ways to legitimize users’ cryptocurrency assets and their origins for traditional financial institutions. In January 2022, the European Parliament adopted a legislative measure to start tracing the source of digital assets in an effort to limit illicit funding entering the EU. This was a big step toward merging crypto and traditional finance. But what can individual traders and investors do to legitimize their crypto wealth? The answer lies …

While proponents of traditional finance remain keen on dismissing Bitcoin (BTC) and the crypto ecosystem as financial risks, a survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York — one of the 12 federal reserve banks of the United States — revealed 11 factors that overshadow crypto in terms of risk in 2022. Geopolitical tensions, foreign divestments, COVID-19 and high energy prices were found to be some of the most-cited potential risks for the US economy, according to a central bank survey published by the Federal Reserve System. Out of the 14 factors that pose a financial risk, crypto …

This year’s bear market trajectory should be looked upon as a favorable opportunity for Web3 founders to raise capital and build cutting-edge products. Some of the most robust businesses today were built during market downturns, and founders now have a real opportunity to ensure they’re building products and services that meet genuine, real-world needs and look beyond oversized checks to find the most suitable business partnership. Determining the best methods to fund your product and company is of paramount importance and not a decision to be rushed into. It is an action that requires due diligence and an acute understanding …

Few doubt the potential that DeFi has to redefine crucial aspects of finance for all. But, as it stands, using DeFi platforms and protocols is often time consuming and anything but easy. One of the biggest draws of DeFi are the yields users can earn on farming and staking protocols. However, the yields on offer are constantly changing, meaning crypto enthusiasts need to stay locked to their screens to ensure they aren't missing out. Given the 24-hour nature of this fast-moving industry, keeping on top of things is often easier said than done. Some protocols are also pretty difficult to …

Much like a pandemic, inflation has spread throughout the world, clouding the future with dark uncertainty. Disagreement over how to best manage soaring prices in the United Kingdom nearly caused its economy to collapse and subsequently led to the resignation of Prime Minister Liz Truss after just 44 days in office. Currently, at least 10 emerging economies are hyperinflationary, with more expected to follow. And the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the part of the U.S. Federal Reserve responsible for keeping prices stable, just announced higher interest rate hikes in the midst of a return to positive gross domestic product …

The global decentralized finance (DeFi) market size was valued at $11.78 billion in 2021. This number is expected to increase as DeFi advances, yet it is still in its infancy. Therefore, a number of banks and traditional financial institutions still tend to be unaware of DeFi’s potential. While this may be, industry experts within the crypto sector are predicting that decentralized finance will overtake traditional financial institutions in the coming years. For instance, Mike Belshe, CEO and co-founder of BitGo — a digital asset custody provider — told Cointelegraph that he believes DeFi will replace institutions in the next three …

The financial technology associations for Thailand and Hungary have signed a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to support the introduction of blockchain technology to their respective financial sectors. The MOU, signed by the Thai Fintech Association (TFA) and the Hungarian Blockchain Coalition on Oct. 25, will see the two associations “share experiences, best practices and explore areas potentially beneficial for direct cooperation,” according to a Facebook post by the Embassy of Hungary in Bangkok. TFA president Chonladet Khemarattana said that e-commerce, mobile payments, and digital currencies are growing rapidly in Thailand and that international cooperation is needed to further develop …

In Celsius Network’s recent court filing, the billion-dollar centralized finance (CeFi) platform exposed more than 14,000 pages of customer identity and on-chain transaction data without user consent — a prescient reminder that privacy absent decentralization is no privacy at all. As part of its bankruptcy proceedings, CeFi lending giant Celsius Network disclosed names and on-chain transaction data of tens of thousands of its customers in an Oct. 5 court filing. While Celsius’ user base complied with standard Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures in order to open personal accounts with the CeFi platform, none consented to nor could have anticipated a …

Is the International Monetary Fund (IMF) really hostile to crypto? Many in the cryptocurrency/blockchain space think so. In January, the fund asked El Salvador to drop Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender. In May, it reportedly pressured Argentina to curtail crypto trading as the price for an IMF loan extension, and it also recently warned the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) that raising a digital currency to the status of legal tender could “raise risks to macroeconomic and financial stability as well as financial integrity.” “I do believe that the IMF is an implacable foe of crypto,” David Tawil, president …